The Election in ‘The Politician’ Season 2 Ends in An Unexpected Way

Warning: Spoilers ahead for The Politician season 2 on Netflix. Another season, another election. The Politician season 2 centers on the election for New York State Senate between Payton Hobart and incumbent Majority Leader Dede Standish. But before you ask who wins the election in The Politician season 2, be prepared for a plot twist, because we know that Ryan Murphy always has a trick up his sleeve.

The Politician season 2, which premiered on Netflix on Friday, June 19, picks up from where season 1 left off. Season 1 ended a year after Payton lost the election for student body president at Saint Sebastian High School in Santa Barbara, California. Now, a student at New York University, Payton is convinced by his classmates and fellow campaign team, who are all also living in New York City, to run for New York State Senate against the current senator, Dede Standish.

Payton is convinced to run when Astrid (his high school rival who won student body president) tells him that she has information that Dede is in a throuple with her husband and another man. Believing that the information would tank Dede’s campaign and give Payton a chance to win, he decides to run for state senate. There are more twists and turns along the way, such as Astrid serving as a mole for Dede and her campaign manager, Hadassah, and a photo that’s leaked of Payton dressing up in a Native American headdress, which threatens his campaign. In the end, though, the election is a tie between Payton and Dede, which forces them to find a way to decide who the real winner is.

Image: Netflix.

Hadassah suggests rock, paper, scissors after Googling if it’s possible to cheat in the game. Payton accepts and he practices rock, paper, scissors with his campaign team. While at his office, Infinity comes to tell Payton that she has a locked ballot box that she stole, which would’ve maybe swayed the election in Dede’s favor. Payton makes a decision whether to give the ballot box to the officials and forfeit the campaign or keep it a secret with a chance to still win. In the end, he keeps it a secret and meets Hadassah and Dede for a game of rock, paper, scissors. But before they can play, Dede concedes the race to Payton following a conversation with Hadassah about how she’s done with the senate and politics. This makes Payton the New York State Senator. Before this, however, Dede has a conversation with Payton’s mom, Georgina, who’s running for the President of the United States and wants Dede to be her vice president. Dede agrees.

Fast forward to two years later, and it’s the end of Payton’s term as Senator and Dede’s term as Vice President. The episode ends with Dede telling Payton that she plans to run for president and wants him to be her VP. Payton laughs before turning to Dede and seemingly agreeing to do it.